‘We all need to be…’ – Rahul Dravid backs Arshdeep Singh after pacer’s horror show in India-SL 2nd T20I

India and Sri Lanka met in the second and penultimate T20I on Thursday evening (January 05) at the MCA Stadium, Pune. In a high-scoring thriller, Hardik Pandya & Co. lost by 16 runs as Sri Lanka levelled the series with the final encounter on Saturday (January 07). Dasun Shanaka’s 22-ball 56 and two wickets along with handy contributions from Kusal Mendis (52), Dilshan Madushanka and Kasun Rajitha’s two scalps each led to the Islanders’ win.

India did put up a good fight, after reeling at 57 for 5, courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav’s (51) and Axar Patel’s (32-ball 65 not out) 91-run sixth-wicket stand but their bowlers’ ordinary show and loss of early wickets in a steep chase put them behind. Arshdeep Singh, who didn’t play the series opener due to illness, made heads turn with the ball, returning with 2-0-37-0; comprising five no-balls. Thus, he has now bowled the joint most no-balls by any bowler from a Full Member side in the format and most by an Indian. After the match, fingers were pointed at Arshdeep but head coach Rahul Dravid has backed the 23-year-old youngster, who was India’s star performer in the T20 World Cup last year. 

“Nobody wants to bowl wides (no-balls) in any format. Especially in T20s, they can hurt you. We need to be patient with lot of these young kids. There are a lot of youngsters playing in this team, especially our bowling attack. They are young kids; they will have games like these at times. We all need to be patient with them and understanding. Of course, they are working hard, and we keep trying to help them, support them technically, and also just create the right environment for them to be able to get the best out of their skills,” Dravid said in the post-match conference.

Dravid added, “It’s tough. It’s not easy learning in international cricket and you have to learn on the job. The good thing is, with the focus on the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship, at least in the T20Is, it gives us an opportunity to try out a lot of the younger guys.” 

After the closely-fought second T20I, captain Hardik told in the post-match presentation, “Going for runs is fine but no balls aren’t. Not blaming or being hard but he (Arshdeep) needs to go back and make sure these basic errors don’t happen at this level. It’s not about blaming but no ball is a crime.” 

“Both bowling and batting – powerplay hurt us. We made basic errors which we shouldn’t do at this level. Learning should be the basics we can control. You can have a bad day but shouldn’t be going away from basics,” added the 29-year-old Hardik. 

Overall, India gave away 12 runs in extras, including four wides and seven no-balls, as SL have levelled the series. The third and final match will be held at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on Saturday evening.